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RED BLUFF — With their backs against the wall and in a must-win situation at home, the Red Bluff Spartans kept their playoff hopes alive Friday night by defeating the Anderson Cubs 31-10.

'Our season has been up and down for us. We've been working and getting a little bit better each week.' head coach Corey Hein said. 'Our guys just really wanted to have a chance to go to the playoffs. All our guys wanted was a chance.'

Before the Spartans could make their case for a playoff birth, they had to shut down a Cubs running game that has been quite potent this year.

Red Bluff's defense was stiff from the get-go, forcing Anderson to three 3-and-outs on its first three possessions of the game, setting a tone early.

'Our defense has really been getting better and better each week. Tonight we were actually really healthy on defense, which helped. We feel like our front eight did an amazing job making plays and gang tackling, so I'm really proud of them' Hein said.

The scoring for Red Bluff got started early with a 22-yard field goal by Ian Hagen to give the Spartans a 3-0 lead. More importantly, it was a lead they would not surrender the rest of the ball game.

After Anderson's third consecutive punt to start the ball game, Red Bluff knew it had to take advantage and put six points on the board. That's when they found their star receiver, Connor McKenzie for a 4-yard touchdown to give Red Bluff a 10-0 lead to end the first quarter.

The touchdown grab was McKenzie's 13th of the season, tying him with his older brother Cole — who is on the Red Bluff coaching staff — for second most in a season, and just one behind Michael Cox who set the school record of 14 touchdown receptions in a season in 1999.

Anderson quickly responded though, on the first play of the second quarter, Cubs quarterback Ryan Hysell found Seth White over the middle for a reception. After shedding a couple of Spartan tackles, White took it to the house for a 42-yard touchdown, bring the score to 10-7.

Red Bluff answered on the next possession when running back Tanner Tweedt rushed the ball in for a 15-yard touchdown, making it 17-7 Spartans. Tweedt received the handoff, went left and when everything broke down he cut back right, avoiding a few tackles and eventually going untouched into the end zone.

The third quarter was a battle of punts, penalties, and turnovers as neither team scored or gained any clear momentum.

For example, Red Bluff fumbled the ball at its own 10-yard line with Anderson recovering and attempting to return. However, shortly after Anderson recovered the fumble, on the same play, the Cubs coughed the football up and Red Bluff recovered, giving Red Bluff a new set of downs.

The fourth quarter, though, was all Red Bluff.

Quarterback Marshal Brose capped off a beautifully managed drive with a 5-yard touchdown run of his own, giving Red Bluff a 24-10 lead, and all the momentum.

Just when it looked like Red Bluff was going to let Anderson back into the game, the Spartan defense came up huge — again.

Hysell took the snap and let a screen play develop. He faked right, turned and threw it left to his running back, but Red Bluff linebacker Tanner Gantenbein read the play, jumping the route and intercepting the ball then taking it 52 yards for a Spartan touchdown.

'All week coach Hein has been talking about their screen game' said Gantenbein. 'It happened earlier in the game but I just missed it, so when I saw it happen again so I read it and made the play.'

Anderson running back Dylan Brooks was a bright spot for the Cubs, as he ran for 198 yards on 32 carries, but couldn't find his way into the end zone.